Doret was born in 1866 in
Aigle,
Switzerland. He studied at the
Berlin Academy of Music with
Joseph Joachim, and then at the
Conservatoire de Paris with
Théodore Dubois and
Jules Massenet. His career as a conductor began in 1894 in Paris, where he led the first performance of
Debussy's ''
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune''. He was second conductor of the Concerts d'Harcourt from 1893 to 1895 and director of the
Opéra-Comique in the 1890s and 1900s. He was also the founder of the
Théâtre du Jorat, in
Mézières. His two serious operas, heavily indebted to Massenet, were performed in Paris; his
light opera and other stage works were far more popular across French-speaking Europe. In 1914, Doret returned to Switzerland and began studying local
popular music and
folk music traditions. He also wrote for Swiss newspapers and wrote a memoir,
Temps et contretemps, published in 1942. Most of his output was vocal, and included operas,
music theatre pieces, one
oratorio, choral music, and more than 300 songs. His only instrumental works were two orchestral pieces, a
string quartet, and a
piano quintet. His work was part of the
music event in the
art competition at the
1912 Summer Olympics. Doret died in 1943 in
Lausanne. ==Awards==